ZAG animation studio appointed Marifely Argüello Montealegre, formerly of ViacomCBS, as its new vice president of development for the U.S. and Latin America.
Reporting to EVP of global operations Julian Zag, Argüello Montealegre will drive creative strategies and product development for the company’s consumer products programs. She joins as ZAG has been building its team in Latin America with several new hires in the past year.
As part of the global consumer products team, Argüello Montealegre will spearhead the creation and design of assets, trends, product direction, and style guides for all ZAG Heroez brands.
“My key role each and every day is to work with and give creative direction to designers in order to make our consumers fall in love with our brand DNA,” said Argüello Montealegre. “I’ve been an admirer of ZAG and especially the Miraculous brand since Miraculous first launched, and I look forward to working with Julian and the consumer products teams to deliver compelling, inspiring, and unique products for all the ZAG Heroez brands.”
Her hire coincides with ZAG shifting its strategy to handle licensing and merchandising activities in-house, with the Latin America team — led by the region’s VP of consumer products Angela Cortez — overseeing consumer products business across most of the region directly.
Meanwhile, ZAG continues to work with agencies in select regions, including co-production partner Gloob in Brazil, and the newly appointed Mon Licensing in Central America, Colombia, and Ecuador.
“Now that we have built our own in-house consumer products teams in the U.S. and Latin America, and as we accelerate our direct to retail offerings, it makes sense for ZAG to handle our consumer products business directly for most countries,” said ZAG founder and CEO Jeremy Zag. “We are delighted to welcome Marifely to our growing team of stellar executives to fulfill a vital role that ensure our products are design-forward, and will exceed the expectations of our current fans, and invite new fans to share in the ZAG Heroez experience.”
At ViacomCBS, Argüello Montealegre served as senior creative manager of promotions and e-commerce/consumer products in Latin America. She joined the company in 2009 and worked in various consumer products roles, including her involvement in company’s transition from an agent model to the direct model throughout the region.
She has worked on entertainment properties including PAW Patrol, SpongeBob SquarePants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Baby Shark, Blue’s Clues & You!, Garfield, Bubble Guppies, Dora the Explorer, Backyardigans, Rugrats, Nickelodeon Slime, and South Park, and alongside global brands Danone, L’Oreal, Mondelez, McDonald’s, Kellogg’s, PepsiCo., Dunkin Donuts, Burger King, KFC, Sunstar, Walmart, Amazon, Mercado Libre, Lojas Riachuelo, Panini, and ADM.